


Petals on Still Waters

by theskywasblue



Category: Bleach
Genre: Comfort, Introspection, M/M, Memory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-07
Updated: 2010-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-10 23:37:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/105694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskywasblue/pseuds/theskywasblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are rules, even if they don't play by them</p>
            </blockquote>





	Petals on Still Waters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [velvetina_wonka](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=velvetina_wonka).



The servants don't try to turn him away at the doors anymore, even when he shows up wearing his sakura petal-patterned pink and white yukata – the one he knows isn't really flattering at all, but is still the most comfortable out of the...three that he happens to own. It's a little bit of a head rush to be able to come and go from the Kuchiki compound whenever he pleases, without a pair of suspicious eyes burning a hole between his shoulder blades.

He makes his footfalls deliberate, but not intrusive, on the walkways, so it's clear he's not sneaking, clear that he belongs – in as much as any outsider can. He knows exactly where he's going at least, by the light of the sparse lanterns finds his way to the place overlooking the pond, with its glittering collection of many-coloured Koi, where Byakuya is leaning on the railing, drink in hand, watching plum blossoms fall on the other side of the garden.

"Good evening, Renji."

Byakuya believes in rules, he believes that their roles here are clearly delineated. At night they are not Captain and Lieutenant. Renji is more uncertain, if he's honest, but he has learned to play along. Peace means letting Byakuya find comfort in the fact that the rules exist, even when they aren't playing by them.

"No wine for me?"

"I'm afraid I finished off the bottle," Byakuya answers, but as Renji leans his hip against the railing he holds the cup to Renji's lips and allows him to take a bigger portion of what remains in the glass than Renji would probably sacrifice in the same position. It's sweet and sharply alcoholic – probably well aged in Byakuya's personal collection.

"It's good," Renji licks his lips, doesn't miss the way that Byakuya's calm eyes follow the swipe of his tongue.

The silence is calming, companionable. Renji watches the Koi push themselves lazily through the water, kept company by his own reflection. Byakuya finishes his wine and sets the cup on the railing, leans slightly on his elbows. Renji once found these sorts of silences unnerving, but now he understands them better. Renji's mind is instinctively noisy, always at war with itself; he is a fighter, not a thinker. Byakuya's mind, on the other hand, thrives on silence, and Renji has learned not to disrupt it.

At least not too much – if he wants to have any hope of not getting tossed out on his ass.

"That yukata..." Byakuya looks him over, head to toe in a way that makes every inch of Renji's skin tighten reflexively, "is truly hideous."

"Yeah, well," Renji shrugs, keeping his eyes on the pond, "Rukia gave it to me, ya know."

"Sentimentality," there's something like a laugh in Byakuya's words as he reaches out and hooks a finger inside the collar of Renji's yukata at the back of his neck, sliding against the skin so that the base of Renji's spine tingles.

Renji wants to point out to Byakuya that he's not the one standing around watching plum blossoms fall, but he doesn't want to hit the wrong side of Byakuya's temper, not tonight. He's much happier just to close his eyes as Byakuya's fingertip plays against the nub of his spine.

A tug and Renji relaxes, letting his shoulders slide back so that Byakuya needs barely a trace of force to guide the soft fabric of the yukata away from his skin, letting it fall, just barely held by the crooks of Renji's elbows. His fingertips follow the steady lines of ink across Renji's back, and Renji focuses on breathing so that his muscles are steady beneath the touch.

A soft splash and the flutter of falling blossoms disrupts the silence as Byakuya breathes out against Renji's shoulder, flicks his tongue against ink-darkened skin. He always seems to expect the tattoos to taste, or even to feel different than the rest of Renji's body. Renji tried to explain them once, that they were really no different than battle scars – a way of mapping his victories across his skin – but he has a feeling that Byakuya would treat them with the same sort of quiet reverence anyway.

It's always easier to let something fall apart than it is to try and hold it together – he's always thought that Izuru's advice was for shit, but in the end, he managed to make use of it. He'd let everything between him and Byakuya fall apart after Rukia's rescue, expecting to be demoted, transferred. What happened instead was something he'd never expected – but hell, Renji has learned to roll with the punches, and there are worse things than living on two sides of a coin.

Like when Byakuya steps away, leaves him standing there with slickness all down the back of his neck and every pore on his skin prickling against the night air – that's definitely worse. Except that it promises to get better when Byakuya licks the black stripe just below his ear, murmurs "turn around" and backs him up against the railing, hands going to the obi at Renji's waist.

"Will the railing hold?" Renji can't remember if they've tested it out before. Probably not enough, with the way Byakuya's slate-grey eyes are shining in the moonlight.

"I suggest you say a few prayers before we begin."

Of course, Renji's not interested in prayers; he's interested in the steady, wet slide of Byakuya's tongue across his chest and the whisper of silk on his skin. He thinks the railing had better hold, because if he ends up falling backwards into the Koi pond then his dick might never recover – forget about his dignity. It seems stable enough as he boosts himself up on it, wrapping his legs automatically around Byakuya for some kind of support. It's a little disappointing that Byakuya hasn't seen fit to remove his yukata, but what the hell – Renji likes the cool smoothness of the fabric against his skin. He tangles his fingers in Byakuya's hair - much easier without the kenseikan in the way – and meets him in a slow kiss, sampling the richness of plum wine from the warmth of Byakuya's mouth. Byakuya's slim, cool fingers trace along the underside of Renji's cock, pausing to stroke his balls until Renji shudders and hisses through his teeth, before moving lower, sparking secret nerve endings, turning everything below Renji's bellybutton into a tightly wound knot of need.

"Yeah..." he breathes against the smooth line of Byakuya's jaw, "c'mon."

"You're far too hasty, Renji," Byakuya answers, though he has to know it isn't true. Renji doesn't mind that first burst of pain, likes the way it feels when it melts into pleasure; but he isn't going to object to Byakuya's fingers pushing past his lips either. He works lips and tongue to slick them with saliva, swirling around Byakuya's knuckles and pressing his tongue hard against the pads of his fingers until Byakuya's eyes go a little glassy and a trace of a moan escapes his lips.

"Are you hoping to tempt me away from my plans with your talented tongue?" Byakuya draws his fingers out, lets them rest for a moment on the wet line of Renji's lower lip.

"Only if you feel like being tempted."

"Perhaps later."

The railing makes things tricky as hell, but Renji has good balance, and it doesn't feel that treacherous with his arms around Byakuya's neck. Not that he's thinking about the railing at all when Byakuya's fingers start pushing into him a little bit at a time, almost coaxing him open; he's just thinking _yes_ and _harder_, wishing he could get his knees up higher while he chokes back the desperate noises threatening to roll of his tongue – because even though the Kuchiki family servants have been trained for generations to ignore almost anything, he's pretty sure they won't be able to ignore _that_.

Byakuya loosens his yukata, just enough to free his cock from the folds of cloth, and Renji feels warm anticipation knot up in his spine at the sight of the swollen head, glistening wet in the moonlight. It'll really fucking suck if he falls into the pond, but hell, every single second before that will be golden.

The tip of Byakuya's cock rubs his hole, slick and hot, but with almost no pressure at all, so that all of Renji's muscles coil and clench, so that he's keenly aware of the absence of Byakuya, turning his need into a sharp ache at the base of his cock, a desperate throb deep inside his body.

"C'mon Byakuya..."

"Patience..."

He runs his lips along Byakuya's jaw, presses his fingers against Byakuya's scalp in a way that makes him audibly choke on a moan, and breathes out, "Fuck me."

It's definitely against the rules – Renji doesn't give orders, isn't really even supposed to _ask_ – but Byakuya doesn't seem to care. He presses his mouth to ink-darkened skin on the side of Renji's neck, teeth adding pressure where the mark won't be visible until pain and pleasure swirl together down the muscles and tendons in Renji's neck, and then pushes in; no hesitation, no more teasing, just the perfect ache of being stretched until Renji doesn't have air in his lungs to say how good it is.

Somehow he has air enough to say _yeah, oh fuck, harder_ though, and Byakuya has to stop up the sound with his lips and tongue until there's just the soft creak of the railing and a splash as Byakuya's empty cup falls into the Koi pond when Renji comes, a long ribbon of white soiling the blue silk of Byakuya's kimono.

"I'm not going in after that."

Byakuya hums, his tongue busy with the raw spot on Renji's neck, slick and softening inside him. "Is that what you think?"

"Unless you push me."

He feels Byakuya grin against his neck and closes his eyes, breathing in the rich smell of their bodies and the sweetness of plum blossoms and waits for the splash.

-End-


End file.
